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Lounge music finds new vitality in Jericho,
the new disc from the Brown Derbies. Its 13 songs are fresh, cohesive
and remarkably consistent, suffused overall with a s-m-o-o-t-h rhythm
that will inspire even the most jaded of you to hunch your shoulders,
bend your elbows and sway ever-so-gently to the beat.

The white-boy-jive groove is actually
Jericho's ticket to success because it
provides a common thread for an otherwise diverse group of songs. It
means the Derbies found the holy grail of album production — a
collection of music that has enough diversity to be interesting
without presenting a collection so similar as to blend its way into
oblivion.

Tuning and blend are quite good, especially since the mood creates a
raison d'etre for that familiar spirit, the fuzz factor of large
collegiate groups. The arrangements are well-suited and vocal
percussion is steady, accurate and at times quite good, such as on
Radiohead's Karma Police. Listeners
acclimate quickly to their trip to Derbieland after the opening cut,
the formerly swing I Wanna Be Like You
originally by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. And from there it's a comfy and
enjoyable ride.

Authenticity hounds among you will not be surprised to hear that
the songs that most resemble their original rendition are those with
an inherently lounge undercurrent. Moxy Fruvous'
Fell in Love and Dire Straits'
Romeo and Juliet are excellent examples of
this, not to mention inherently excellent songs. Lines like "Romeo? I
think I used to do a scene with him." or "And the sunshine shone from
the sunshine above" are not lost on the Derbies, who take exemplary
care of the covers in their midst.

This album ought to be required listening for any college group
planning to record. It's an outstanding example of how to choose a
tight-knit, interesting collection of songs (no 20-track, kitchen sink
monstrosities here, thank goodness!) and bring it together into a
cohesive whole. This accomplishment is all the more remarkable for its
lack of superstars — it is truly an ensemble achievement, and none of
its members disappoint.

Stop for a second and imagine your favorite guitar-based rock song.
Now imagine a marching band doing their version of it. Seriously. A
really hip marching band. (I've seen a band do Rock
Lobster by the B-52s, so how hard could YOUR song be.) Write a
little arrangement for 76 trombones and 110 coronets in your
head. Good. That was fun. Now imagine an a cappella group doing a
cover of the marching band version. Okay, now it should be getting
weird. The voices in your head are probably sounding at odds with the
original song. It's probably mostly annoying impersonations of brass
instruments.

The a cappella version you just arranged was doomed to suck. The
first arrangement you heard in your head was custom tailored to play to
the strengths of brass instruments. The second arrangement I asked you
to think about forced you to try and graft the brassy sound into an a
cappella arrangement. (It would be just as fruitless to try to try to
transcribe the marching band arrangement to say, a ukulele or a string
quartet.)

What does this have to do with the Brown Derbies new CD,
Jericho? Two things on
Jericho will make all of this seem relevant
shortly. The first of those things is the opening track I Wanna Be Like You. The Derbies aren't singing
their version of the song from The Jungle
Book. They're singing their version of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
singing their version of the song from The Jungle
Book. By not working directly from the source material, they
lose a lot in the translation. The original vocal was like a little
party — that bear dancing in the hula skirt sounded just like he
looked, and he looked like he was having a good old time. There's also
a bit of menace. (He's trying his damnedest to get the kid to help
him.) That joy, that devilish grin, is lost here. The Derbies should
have used Disney as a reference point.

The second thing that makes my rambling introduction relevant is that
Derbies have the bad habit of not playing to their strengths. Several
songs on Jericho that are otherwise great
are plagued with odd attempts to try to sound like a traditional band
as opposed to just being the a cappella group that they are. In an
effort to capture the quality of the original song, the Derbies insert
nasal tones into their arrangements. (I think they're going for a
guitar sound.) The same segments of the arrangement would be pure gold
if the syllables were simple strait forward "Ba Ba Ba"s instead of
"Dwnnnaw"s (or however it is one notates that sound).

It doesn't help that the nasal sounds sometimes open up the song with
not enough around them to soften the blow.
(Cavern, Walk Like an
Egyptian, and especially Sort of Haunted
House have this problem.) But I should say this about the
nasal sounds. They haven't been dressed up with any fancy studio
tricks. This is a cappella the way it would sound in your local coffee
house. The arrangements are typically complex, but they still have a
clean and pure quality to them. That quality combined with strong song
choices and winning soloist, combine to make for an album that's steps
ahead of their last effort. Sure, the opening of
Sort of Haunted House is off-putting and not
likely to be at the top of your list for songs to try to convert a non
a cappella fan with, but if you get past that you're in for a
treat. (I especially like Nick Moy's echoing of the lead singer's "I
am not afraid".) Texarkana and
Running to Stand Still are both offbeat song
choices (from mainstream groups) that are engaging every time. I find
it easy to imagine the average Phish fan getting into a bootleg of the
Derbies cover of Cavern.
Brian Wilson bravely uses lots of "bing"s in
the backing vocals and the risk pays off (largely due to the
self-assured solo by Marcos Santiago.) The album's biggest highlight
is the closing track Romeo and Juliet.

One more thing. The Derbies last album
had way too many attempts at humor that failed to deliver. Jericho has no such problem. Cavern is a bit goofy, but it's not a novelty
number. The only joke is the answering machine message and it
works. Their answering machine message from the last CD failed because
it was too busy to me clear over a phone and because it was too long to
fit on many answering machines. Both problems are solved this time
around leaving just an enjoyable joke that doesn't hurt the flow of
the disk.

I have had the privilege of being aware and appraised of the existence
and progress of the Brown Derbies since 1993 when they first visited
my alma mater of Washington University
in St. Louis for
Jammin'
Toast. From the moment their dulcet tones (I know it's an odd word,
but when else do I get to use the term?) reached my ears, I've been a
fan. Familiar tunes like Tarzan Boy rocked
through on my well-worn copy of Down Time. Since then, I've been impressed by
their consistently outstanding performances. Would the resoundingly
trumpeted Jericho send the walls tumbling
down? (dulcet, biblical references...oy)

It's darn good, though not flawless. It does stir those standbys of
lush arrangements and tunes with an arc, though not all the way through
this time. Sadly, their streak of Billy Joel covers does not continue
here. Sadly, their streak of commercial parodies as telephone messages
does...guys, it's tired...put it on the shelf for a while.

I know it won a CARA for best song (well deserved, and the right track
to suck you in to the rest of the album), arranger (Raj Patil...hope
he left a lot of stuff behind, it's good stuff), and a runner up for
soloist (Marcos Santiago, very good too, though Keith Getchell was
also nominated, and should have gotten further recognition than that),
but the CARA for best album interests me, as their previous CARA
winning album which I also reviewed
(Nightcap)
was more consistent than this CARA winning album.

The main thing here is that after the first couple of tracks, there's
a run of six tracks where there was no rise and fall to keep me
hooked. Musically it sounded fine, but the plateaus didn't reel me in
like I feel they should have. It picked back up again with
Find a Way to My Heart and pretty much
carried through to the end.

All this does though is dock it a point at the most. The Derbies have
proven themselves to know how to bring a finished product into the
studio, and 8 times out of 10, they exceed my expectations. This is a
good CD, definitely worth getting...but I don't expect to
pick this at the top of my year 2000
list.

This is just a great album, especially for a college group. The Brown
Derbies have combined good song choices, very nice leads, flawless
intonation/rhythm, and great sound production to create a very good
offering to the gods of collegiate of a cappella.

You see, college groups are eternally bound to release an album
to the gods of a cappella every year or so, or they are doomed to be
swallowed up by the hundreds of other groups out there peddling their
wares. Often groups, especially all-mens groups, are torn between
their annual tithe and their desire to tour the country performing at
other colleges/universities (drinking along the way and often finding
certain, um, short term social opportunities with their host groups,
not that I would know anything about that). In speaking with a dozen or
so college groups recently, these two pursuits: recording and touring
require similar monetary & time resources and often recording is the
activity that is skimped on first. Either these guys don't tour or they
are very serious about their offering to the gods. All said, fine album.

Well...let's discuss a couple of the tracks. A personal favorite track
of mine is Karma Police (by Radiohead). They
have kept their cover very faithful to the original (although
excluding the end guitar-distortion-freakiness, probably a good idea)
right down to the lead (which could stand to be a little
whinier). Wonderful sound. I also like Telephone
Message, the group's obligatory
Random-song-and-lets-be-funny-now Offering. Random, but very nice
sounding.

This is a very solid album. It didn't blow me away, which would be
rare for a college group, but always possible. They still suffer from
the the '90s use of guitar-like sounds (nasal "ber-now ber-now"),
especially on Carry On Wayward Son,
there's gotta be better sounding syllables. The vocal percussion is
very good, predominantly organic sounds rather than imitative, but
very effective.

If you are looking to augment your college a cappella collection and
are tired of buying those Beelzebubs
CDs, get a copy of Jericho. You won't be
disappointed.

I saw the Brown Derbies' Jericho lineup
perform in fall '98 and this album captures their stage act
well. That's a glowing compliment. The Derbies have been
standard-setters for years, and Jericho is
a good choice for any fan who wants to hear some college guys achieve
harmonic heights.

There are so many things to like on this CD, I can only hit a few of
the highlights here: the stunning "oos" on Karma
Police and Find a Way To My Heart;
Marcos Santiago, a rangeless treasure who turns a subtle pop solo to
art; the dense, masculine power of the Carry
On intro; track after track of flawless percussion; the choice
to cover a brilliant, underappreciated song like
Texarkana; the textbook use of dynamics; the
fact that I can now point to a CD that proves once and for all that
tuning and spirit are not incompatible in college.

The Derbies' brush with greatness here is evident in the humorous
Telephone Message and
Walk Like an Egyptian, two of my favorite
tracks. Guy groups know that all they need to do is evoke the Bangles
and crowds will go berserk. Only a group with a serious devotion to
quality would bother to make a Bangles cover musically impeccable or a
Big Red commercial parody so solid Folgers should consider firing
Rockapella and hiring the Derbies.

So what's the problem? A pet peeve of mine: ugly nasal twangs and
diphthongs render the letter of guitar originals at the cost of the
spirit on many songs. It may literally sound like a guitar, but when
"bee-yow-now" is the dominant block sound, it grabs undeserved
attention from gentler layers. That's fine on Walk
Like An Egyptian, but on Texarkana
it's a big distraction, and disturbs the mood. The practice is hardly
unique to the Derbies, of course...I'm calling them on it because it's
one of the only factors that kept me from falling in love with this
CD.

My one real regret about Jericho is that no
tracks repeat the shivery magic of In the House of Stone and Light or the snarling
snap of Who Are
You, my favorite Derby tracks of all time. Setting such a
high standard of spine-tingles-per-minute on previous work carries a
down side. Disappointing a reviewer by producing merely terrific work
comes with the territory when you operate at this level.

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